The Revolutionary Chronicles
by ThatTexasKid
Summary: The Fire Nation is not as united as the world appears to think. Far from the public eye, insurrection brews among the average citizens of the Fire Nation, and when insurrection grows unchecked, revolutions rise from below. Rated T for violence and occasional language.


- **The Journal of Juan Carlos Romero: May, Year of Sozin's Comet-**

Many individuals lead lives of fruitful unimportance. They seek no great ambition nor do they do anything outside the boundaries of the law.

These are the men who do not end up in prison. I am not one of those men.

There is not much entertainment to be had in a Fire Nation prison outside the capital. However, the guards were kind enough to allow me this journal. Allow me to introduce myself, and how I ended up in this unfortunate predicament.

My name is Juan Carlos Romero. Strange name, I know. It's a name very atypical to the Fire Nation. My parents always told me it was a religious name in some ancient dialect, but I will never know for sure. Speaking of my parents, they were lowly vegetable farmers in the tropical mountain village of Cheng, deep into the Fire Nation. This is where I was born. My brother Felipe was a firebender, but he was the only one of my family blessed with such a skill.

Yes, I am indeed a non-bender. I have come to accept it, and I can live with it.

I grew up in relative poverty, but I was a smart kid. I was able to blackmail my way into getting an education in world history. This was a turning point in my life. I traveled the world with my mentor, from Ba Sing Se, to both water tribes, and the ruins of the Southern Air Temple. In my travels, I noticed that all of these societies, so varied and unique, shared one decisive and common characteristic; people were not free to choose their own destiny.

The Fire Nation monarchy rules with a traditional, iron fist. The Earth Kingdom is mired in surveillance and suppression. The Water Tribes are so embroiled in their traditions that they fail to see the future when it slapped them right in the face. The Airbenders were relatively free, but they are now long-dead, save for an Avatar who I fear is destined to fail.

People are divided by their bending, and oppressed by their governments, but nobody is aware of it. Nobody has any inclination that their pitiful existences could be subject to change. They have no idea that the chains that enslave them could be broken. Spirits, people are ignorant. I resolved to educate them of the truth, to make them realize the tyranny that engulfs their very existence.

So I wrote a book. I called it _Common Sense, and the Inherent Principles Behind Mankind_. I hoped to enlighten a few minds, maybe a dozen if I was lucky, but I did not realize the impact my little book would have.

People in the Fire Nation became angry. Very angry. They realized the extent of Ozai's cruelty, and how much he oppressed them. The people began to protest, and these assemblies were violently oppressed, of course. However, this only caused the tension to grow further. A symbol of change began to rise in the form of a beautiful, scarlet red flag. I feel it was one passage in my book that really affected people. Allow me to share it:

 _Since the inception of our existence, humans have allowed bending to divide us and to define us. To this, I say no more. Whether we bend fire, earth, water, or nothing at all, we are all men. Solidarity, my friends, is the way of the future. I dream that someday, men will free themselves, and unite based on this glorious idea of Liberty, instead of what natural element responds to their hand gestures. Solidarity is the only way to affect true change. The world has remained stagnant and oppressive for far too long. Freedom is not something the Spirits will suddenly rise and smack us down for, and I simply do not understand the grotesque stigma against it. Men must be free. There is simply no other alternative._

The movement didn't just apply to firebenders. Non-benders, earthbenders from the colonies, and even a few waterbenders took up the cause, pressing for freedom.

This made Ozai very, very angry. As the strength of the movement grew, so did the price tag on my head, and I was eventually arrested while speaking to a loyal group of my supporters. Alas, here I sit now, waiting for my corpse to waste away. I wonder what will happen now that-

 **-Third Person-**

Juan Carlos immediately closed his journal in response to the arrival of an unexpected guest. He did not wear the uniform of a prison guard. The visitor was tall, young, and bearded. His skin was a rich tan, and his eyes burned with an amber hue that signified that the visitor was an incredibly powerful firebender. He wore a combination of tattered robes and parts of a set of fire nation armor, as well as a pair of dirty, brown boots.

"How can I help you, sir?"

The visitor smiled, and spoke with a hint of mirth in his voice, and a twinkle in his eyes.

"Are you Juan Carlos Romero?"

"I am."

The visitor's smile grew far wider, and he bowed down as a sign of respect. Juan Carlos merely stared, perplexed at the sudden change in events. The visitor then spoke.

"Juan Carlos Romero, my name is Kuzon Octavious. I served in the Fire Nation army for seven years. I fought in the Siege of Ba Sing Se, and traveled in search of the last waterbender at the Southern Water Tribe. Your book made me realize how evil the Fire Nation is, and what must be done to curb it. 5,000 of your friends and allies stand beyond this cell, proudly waving the red flag of the revolution. This is only the beginning, my friend."

With a flick of his wrist, blue fire sprung out from Kuzon's hand, burning the cell that contained Juan Carlos Romero to ash. A transformative figure was now free, and a revolution with no historical precedent was born.

 **Don't forget to review. I'll make this a full story if you guys want it.**


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